Dual platform location-relevant service

ABSTRACT

A location-relevant service system provides location-relevant information to, or performs location-relevant service for, a first mobile unit based on the location of a second mobile unit. In one instance, the first mobile unit is fixed on a vehicle, while the second mobile unit can be provided as a cellular phone. In another instance, the first mobile unit is provided with a display panel, so that authentication can be achieved through providing the displayed location information to a location-relevant service server using the second mobile unit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/599,053 filed on Jun. 21, 2000, incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a location-relevant service; inparticular, the present invention relates to a location-relevant serviceaccessible by multiple mobile devices.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Location-relevant services, which provide information or performservices based on the geographical location of a mobile client, arebecoming more available. A location-relevant service can be used, forexample, by a trucking company to track the positions of its vehicles inservice. Another application of location-relevant systems is to providetravel-related services (e.g., driving directions) based on the positionof the client. One example of a location-relevant service is described,for example, in copending U.S. patent application “Method forDistribution of Locality-Relevant Information using a Network”(“Copending Application”), Ser. No. 09/422,116, filed Oct. 20, 1999. Toprovide an example regarding the architecture and application of alocation-relevant information system, the disclosure of the CopendingApplication is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Typically, a location-relevant system includes a location-relevantservice server accessible by multiple mobile units over a communicationsystem, which includes wireless links to the mobile units. The mobileunits provide their positions based on a positioning system. Theposition of a mobile unit can be provided by, for example, the GlobalPositioning System (GPS) or, in a cellular telephone network, by aprocess called triangulation which is based on signal delays from systembase stations of known fixed locations. Due to technology limitations atthe present time, it is costly to integrate the capabilities of bothpositioning and wireless communication of such a mobile unit into ahand-held device. In addition, hand-held positioning devices are alsotypically less accurate than their more sophisticated bulkycounterparts. Therefore, a mobile unit in a location-relevant service istypically fixedly installed on a vehicle. However, a mobile unit fixedlyinstalled on a vehicle cannot provide the convenience and mobility of ahand-held unit.

Another desirable application that is not known in the prior art isaccessing from a mobile unit location-relevant service based on theposition of another mobile unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a location-relevant service system whichincludes (a) a location-relevant service server accessible over a datanetwork (e.g., the Internet); (b) a first mobile unit coupled to thedata network over a first wireless link which provides a position of thefirst mobile unit over the wireless link to the location-relevantservice server; and (c) a second mobile unit coupled to the data networkwhich receives from the location-relevant service serverlocation-relevant service based on the position of the first mobileunit. In one embodiment, the second mobile unit couples to thelocation-relevant service server over a second wireless link independentof the first wireless link. Alternatively, the first and second mobileunits can share the first wireless link, which can be provided by eitherof the mobile units. Further, the first and second units can alsocommunicate over a direct wired or wireless link. In a wired linkenvironment, the wired link can be provided through a docking station inthe first mobile unit adapted for accommodating the second mobile unit.The electrical interface between the first and second mobile units undersuch an arrangement can be provided by a standard interface, such as anindustry standard serial bus commonly found in portable devices, such asa cellular telephone, lap top computer or a personal digital assistant.

The location-relevant service system of the present invention canoperate in at least two modes: on-demand or “pushed.” Under on-demandoperation, location-relevant service is provided in response to a queryreceived from the second mobile unit. Alternatively, under the pushedoperation either the second mobile unit or a non-mobile unit can requesta selected location-relevant service to be provided to the second mobileunit upon occurrence of predetermined events, or satisfaction of certainconditions (e.g., during a specified time period).

Location-relevant services can provide such information as trafficconditions, entertainment information, or travel-related information(e.g., detailed driving directions) relevant to the locality of thefirst mobile unit. Alternatively, the first mobile unit can be installedin conjunction with a monitor that monitors the operation conditions ofa vehicle. In that configuration, the first mobile unit can reportoperations or maintenance conditions of the vehicle to other users(e.g., the second mobile unit) through the location-relevant serviceserver.

In one application, a user who is seeking a real property can specifiedin the location-relevant service server a search request for a list ofreal properties for inspection. The search result can be pushed to hiscellular phone (i.e., second mobile unit, in this instance) based on theposition receiver (e.g. GPS receiver) installed in his vehicle, when hearrives at the vicinity and requests from the second mobile unit hissearch results.

In addition to the GPS system, the present invention can also be used inconjunction with a terrestrial triangulation-based system. In oneembodiment, the first mobile unit receives or computes its positionusing terrestrial triangulation.

In one application, the two mobile units can be used to authenticate auser in a business transaction. For example, the user conductingbusiness on a cellular telephone can be authenticated by providing thelocation-relevant service server the position of the first mobile unit.(For example, the user is conducting this transaction from his vehicle,where the first mobile unit is installed). The location-relevant serviceserver can independently verify this position by querying the firstmobile unit. In such an application, if the first mobile unit isprovided a display, the user can read the position off the display andkey in the position information using the keypad on the second mobileunit (e.g., a cellular telephone).

The present invention is better understood upon consideration of thedetailed description below and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention in alocation-relevant service system 100.

FIG. 2 illustrates a query-based operation of one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a “push-based” operation of one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 shows system 400, in a second embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 shows system 500, in a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method for obtaining a receiver position based onthe global positioning system (GPS).

FIG. 7 illustrates a method for obtaining a receiver position based onterrestrial triangulation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides access to a location-relevant servicefrom a mobile communication device based on the position of anothermobile unit. FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention in alocation-relevant service system 100. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventionalmobile unit 101 for accessing location-relevant service is incommunication in a conventional manner with a location-relevant serviceserver 106 over a communication or data network, such as the Internet.Mobile unit 101 consists of both position receiver 103 and communicationportion 102. In addition, mobile unit 101 may include a visual displaypanel for displaying the position information received at positionreceiver 103. Position information can be expressed as actual longitudesand latitudes, or simply a location code. In addition, the “age” of thelocation information (i.e., the elapsed time since the last time mobileunit 101 computes its position) can also be displayed.

As illustrated by system 100, mobile unit 101 can send its positiondata, for example, over a wireless link 113 with wireless gateway 104.Positional data can be received, for example, from a GPS system or aterrestrial triangulation-based system. FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate methodsfor obtaining a receiver position based on a global positioning systemand a terrestrial triangulation system, respectively. As shown in FIG.6, in a GPS system, receiver 605 receives from satellites 601–604respective positions P₁, P₂, P₃ and P₄ and their times of transmission.Using its local time t, receiver 605 computes distances S₁, S₂, S₃, andS₄, which are respective distances of satellites 601–604 from receiver605. Position P_(R) of receiver 605 can then be computed conventionallyas a function of P₁, P₂, P₃, P₄, S₁, S₂, S₃ and S₄. As shown in FIG. 7,under a terrestrial triangulation method, land-based transmitters702–704 of known locations P₁, P₂ and P₃ each provide a signal fromwhich receiver 701 computes respective distances S₁, S₂ and S₃ betweenreceiver 701 and each of transmitters 702–704. The position P_(R) ofreceiver 701 can be computed conventionally as a function of P₁, P₂, P₃,S₁, S₂, and S₃. In addition to the computed position of mobile device101, the time at which the position was obtained can be also providedlocation-relevant service server 106. This information would allow theuser or location-relevant service server 106 to determine whether or nota more or less frequent update is necessary. The direction of travel ofmobile unit 101 can also be provided to location-relevant service server106. (Direction of travel can be used, for example, in a drivingdirection service to provide more accurate “turn by turn” drivingdirections—i.e., additional turns may be necessary to reorient thevehicle towards the destination)

Wireless gateway 104 relays the position data from mobile unit 101 overthe Internet to location-relevant server 106 over via internet gateway105. As in the system described in the Copending Applicationincorporated by reference above, location-relevant server 106 isaccessible over the Internet by desk top client device 112 (e.g., adesktop computer) using conventional internet connection 111. Desktopclient device 112 can be used to control subsequent processing of theposition data received at location-relevant service server 106.

Unlike prior art systems, however, system 100 allows a second mobiledevice 110 (e.g., a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, ora laptop computer) to access information or service provided bylocation-relevant service server based on the position of mobile unit101. As shown in FIG. 1, location-relevant service server 106 provideslocation-relevant information to mobile device 110 by making suchinformation available at an information depository 107 (e.g., a webserver) accessible by mobile device 110 through wireless gateway 109 andinternet gateway 108 via wireless link 119 and conventional datacommunication links 117 and 118. In one embodiment, a user can accessinformation depository 107 using a browser adapted for a wirelesscommunication protocol (e.g., WAP). (Although shown here as separateunits, information depository 107 and location-relevant service server106 can be implemented by the same server unit).

To access location-relevant service based on the position of mobile unit101, the user of mobile device 110 provides authentication information(e.g., user identification and password) to location-relevant serviceserver 106. After establishing that the user of mobile device 110 hasthe requisite rights, location-relevant server 106 provideslocation-relevant service to the user of mobile device 110.

System 100 can operate under at least two modes of operations:“query-based” and “push-based” operations. FIG. 2 illustrates aquery-based operation of one embodiment of the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 2, under a query-based operation, location-relevantservice is provided only when the user of mobile device 110 sends out arequest for location-relevant service (step 201). At step 202, wherelocation-relevant service server 106 receives the service request, itdetermines (step 203) if it requires an update of the position of mobiledevice 101. If an updated position is required, a request is sent tomobile device 101 to obtain mobile device 101's current position.Otherwise, at step 205, the most recently acquired position informationstored at location-relevant service server 106 is used. Regardless ofwhether an update is obtained, the position data is used to renderlocation-relevant service (step 206). Results or returned information isthen provided to the user at mobile device 110 (step 207).

FIG. 3 illustrates a “push-based” operation of one embodiment of thepresent invention. Under the push-based operation of FIG. 3, at steps301 and 302, mobile device 110 receives a command for a selectedlocation-relevant service and enables the corresponding service atlocation-relevant service server 106. The selected service can beactivated according to some conditions, such as a specified positionreported by mobile unit 101. At the same time, at regular timeintervals, mobile unit 101 provides its current position tolocation-relevant service server 106. Location-relevant service server106 waits on the specified conditions for triggering the selectedlocation-relevant service (steps 303 and 304). When the conditions forthe selected service are met, the selected service is performed inaccordance with the position of mobile unit 101 (step 305). Depending onwhether the selected service is to remain active (e.g., prior to theexpiration of a specified time period), location-relevant service server106 returns to wait for the triggering conditions (step 306), or proceedwith other location-relevant services (step 307), as required.

Examples of other location-relevant information that can be providedincludes: traffic, operating or maintenance conditions regarding thevehicle, entertainment (e.g., movies or shows played at nearby cinemasor theaters) or travel-related information (e.g., locations of nearbyhotels, points of interests, gas stations, restaurants, drivingdirections etc.) In system 100, for example, prior to a trip, a user canspecified from his desktop personal computer a list of location-relatedservice requests. The user seeking to buy real estate, for example, mayset requests for locations of open-house events, which will then bedownloaded to mobile device 110 in the form of a paging message or anemail, when mobile device 101—which is installed in the user'scar—arrives at the specified geographical vicinity.

The information at location-relevant service server 106 can be sharedamong users for many purposes. For example, the present inventionprovides a method for authentication for on-line transactions. Forexample, a user completing an on-line transaction with mobile device 110can sign the transaction using the position data displayed on thedisplay panel of mobile unit 101. The elapsed time since the positiondata was obtained can also be displayed on the display panel and used toachieve further robustness. The other party to the transaction canauthenticate the user through location-relevant service server 106,which independently query mobile unit 101 to obtain its position.

In system 100, mobile unit 101 and mobile device 110 communicate viaseparate wireless links 113 and 119. However, the operations describedabove and the attendant benefits can be achieved similarly using systems400 and 500 of FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively, in alternative embodimentsof the present invention. To simplify the following discussion and toavoid repetition, like elements in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 are provided likereference numerals. In each of systems 400 and 500, rather than mobileunit 101 sending positional data to location-relevant service server 106via an independent communication link, the position information data ofmobile unit 101 and communication between mobile device 110 andlocation-relevant service server 106 share a common wireless link and aninternet gateway. In system 400, mobile unit 101 and mobile device 110communicate with each other over wireless link 402, and communicate withlocation-relevant service server 106 through mobile device 110.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, mobile unit 101 and mobile device 110communicate over a wired link 501, and communicate withlocation-relevant service server 106 through mobile unit 101's wirelesslink 113. Wired link 501 can be implemented, for example, by a dockingstation through a standard interface. For example, if mobile unit 101 isa lap top or a personal digital assistant, such an interface can beprovided by a 1394 serial bus interface. As in FIG. 1, in systems 400and 500, location-relevant service server 107 can be accessed fromnon-mobile or desktop client 112.

The above detailed description is provided to illustrate specificembodiments of the present invention and is not intended to be limiting.Numerous modifications and variations within the scope of the presentinvention are possible. The present invention is set forth in thefollowing claims.

1. A method for performing an authentication operation, the methodcomprising: receiving position data indicating a position of a firstmobile unit, the position data being received from the first mobile unitover a network; receiving information regarding the position of thefirst mobile unit from a second unit over a network; matching theinformation received from the second unit against the position datareceived from the first mobile unit to authenticate a user of the secondunit.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the authentication operationsucceeds if the information received from the second unit indicates thesame position as the position data received from the first mobile unit,and the authentication operation fails otherwise.
 3. The method of claim1 wherein: the authentication operation succeeds if the informationreceived from the second unit correctly indicates (a) the position ofthe first mobile unit as specified by the position data, and (b) a timeinformation indicating a time when the position data was obtained at thefirst mobile unit; and the authentication operation fails otherwise. 4.The method of claim 3 wherein the time information is an elapsed timesince the position data was obtained at the first mobile unit.
 5. Themethod of claim 3 further comprising the first mobile unit displayingthe position data and the time information to make the position data andthe time information available to an authorized user, and allowing theauthorized user to send the position data and the time information viathe second unit.
 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the firstmobile unit displaying the position data to make the position dataavailable to an authorized user, and allowing the authorized user tosend the position data via the second unit.
 7. The method of claim 1wherein the second unit is a mobile unit.
 8. The method of claim 1wherein the matching operation is performed by a system on behalf of aparty to a transaction, the transaction being between the party and theuser of the second unit.
 9. A system for performing an authenticationoperation, the system comprising: means for receiving position dataindicating a position of a first mobile unit, the position data beingreceived from the first mobile unit over a network; means for receivinginformation regarding the position of the first mobile unit from asecond unit over a network; and means for matching the informationreceived from the second unit against the position data received fromthe first mobile unit to authenticate a user of the second unit.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9 wherein the authentication operation succeeds if theinformation received from the second unit indicates the same position asthe position data received from the first mobile unit, and theauthentication operation fails otherwise.
 11. The system of claim 9wherein: the authentication operation succeeds if the informationreceived from the second unit correctly indicates (a) the position ofthe first mobile unit as specified by the position data, and (b) a timeinformation indicating a time when the position data was obtained at thefirst mobile unit; and the authentication operation fails otherwise. 12.The system of claim 11 wherein the time information is an elapsed timesince the position data was obtained at the first mobile unit.
 13. Thesystem of claim 11 wherein the first mobile unit is operable to make theposition data and the time information available to an authorized user,and to allow the authorized user to send the position data and the timeinformation via the second unit.
 14. The system of claim 9 wherein thefirst mobile unit is operable to make the position data available to anauthorized user, and to allow the authorized user to send the positiondata via the second unit.
 15. The system of claim 9 wherein the secondunit which is a mobile unit.
 16. The system of claim 9 wherein thesystem is operable to perform the authentication operation on behalf ofa party to a transaction, the transaction being between the party andthe user of the second unit.
 17. A method for performing anauthentication operation, the method comprising: receiving position dataover a first network path, the position data indicating a position of afirst mobile unit; receiving information regarding the position of thefirst mobile unit over a second network path; and matching theinformation received over the second network path against the positiondata received over the first network path to authenticate a sender ofthe information over the second network path.
 18. The method of claim 17wherein the authentication operation succeeds if the informationreceived over the second network path indicates the same position as theposition data received over the first network path, and theauthentication operation fails otherwise.
 19. The method of claim 17wherein: the authentication operation succeeds if the informationreceived over the second network path correctly indicates (a) theposition of the first mobile unit as specified by the position data, and(b) a time information indicating a time when the position data wasobtained at the first mobile unit; and the authentication operationfails otherwise.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the time informationis an elapsed time since the position data was obtained at the firstmobile unit.
 21. The method of claim 19 further comprising the firstmobile unit displaying the position data and the time information tomake the position data and the time information available to anauthorized user.
 22. The method of claim 17 further comprising the firstmobile unit displaying the position data to make the position dataavailable to an authorized user.
 23. The method of claim 17 wherein thesecond network path provides the information from a mobile unit.
 24. Themethod of claim 17 wherein the matching operation is performed by asystem on behalf of a party to a transaction, the transaction beingbetween the party and the sender of the information over the secondnetwork path.
 25. A system for performing an authentication operation,the system comprising: means for receiving position data over a firstnetwork path, the position data indicating a position of a first mobileunit; means for receiving information over a second network path; andmeans for matching the information received over the second network pathagainst the position data received over the first network path toauthenticate a sender of the information over the second network path.26. The system of claim 25 wherein the authentication operation succeedsif the information received over the second network path indicates thesame position as the position data received over the first network path,and the authentication operation fails otherwise.
 27. The system ofclaim 25 wherein: the authentication operation succeeds if theinformation received over the second network path correctly indicates(a) the position of the first mobile unit as specified by the positiondata, and (b) a time information indicating a time when the positiondata was obtained at the first mobile unit; and the authenticationoperation fails otherwise.
 28. The method of claim 27 wherein the timeinformation is an elapsed time since the position data was obtained atthe first mobile unit.
 29. The system of claim 27 wherein the firstmobile unit is operable to make the position data and the timeinformation available to an authorized user.
 30. The system of claim 25wherein the first mobile unit is operable to make the position dataavailable to an authorized user.
 31. The system of claim 25 wherein thesecond network path provides the information from a mobile unit.
 32. Thesystem of claim 25 wherein the authentication operation is performed onbehalf of a party to a transaction, the transaction being between theparty and the sender of the information over the second network path.